Spanning Across Time
by Tatsumaki-sama
Summary: Five times Luffy and Zoro didn't meet. And one time that they did.
1. The Marine and the Pirate Hunter

**Disclaimer: **I don't own One Piece or any of its characters.

**Spanning Across Time  
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The Marine and the Pirate Hunter

Luffy peered interestedly over the balcony, not listening to his commanding officer sternly lecturing him about responsibility and how by confronting and arresting Sir Crocodile, he effectively left the World Government reeling with the lack of one of their Shichibukai. While it was notable that what Crocodile was orchestrating, particularly wanting to overthrow the World Government, could not be ignored, the way Luffy went about it deserved a severe punishment and suspension.

As his commanding officer was irritably mumbling how Vice Admiral Garp managed to worm his grandson out of the suspension at least, Luffy was far more interested in the man who was dragging in someone.

The four marines at the gate squeaked in alarm as the infamous pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro strolled past them without so much as a curt nod, his three swords hung at his hip and his golden earrings tinkling lightly.

He came and went as he pleased. Roronoa was no pirate but he was no ally of the marines either. He did as he wanted, bringing in pirates and other criminals as long as he received their bounty and left with the money he needed. And since he was helping to capture pirates and not disturbing the peace, the marines let him go about his business quietly.

Luffy was now leaning over the balcony edge, barely containing his glee as Zoro headed into the Marine building. With an excited whoop, he flew past his spluttering commanding officer and bounced down the stairs to come face to face with Zoro himself.

" Yo!" he grinned, raising a hand in greeting.

Zoro didn't return his smile. " Here's Daz Bones, also known as Mr 1 in Baroque Works." He ceremoniously dropped his unconscious captive in front of Luffy. " He was causing some trouble." His mouth quirked in Luffy's direction. " Thanks to you, no less."

" They were bothering Vivi," Luffy said as if it was all the explanation he needed.

The swordsman made a sound in his throat, like a snort. If Zoro noticed that Luffy was talking so casually about helping the princess of Alabasta, he didn't show it. " I'll come back for the bounty when you have it ready," he coolly said, making motions to leave.

" But you just got here!" Luffy exclaimed, itching to talk. He had heard all about Roronoa Zoro and his exploits were spread and widely discussed with mounted fear and trepidation throughout the marine base and around the area. " You're really strong," he was saying conversationally. " You should join the marines."

Zoro scowled. Was this kid for real? " Not interested," he shortly said.

" Why not?" Luffy whined, tugging at Zoro's arm. " There are lots of meat here and lots of fun adventures waiting for us. It will be great. Wanna join my crew?"

The rest of the marines stared agape that a marine captain was chattering animatedly to one of the fiercest bounty hunters in the world. Zoro for his part looked increasingly annoyed and any attempts to pry the boy from his arm didn't work.

Irritated at Luffy's childish reasons for why he should join the marines, Zoro glared at the boy. It would have terrified a lesser man but Luffy remained unfazed. " Go bother someone else," he growled.

He finally wrenched himself from Luffy's grip and hurried to leave, half expecting that the marine captain would stop him, demand again that he should stay and join the marines and any answer aside from the one he wanted would fall on deaf ears.

But Luffy didn't stop him or urge him to join. He simply let him go.

" I'll be here, if you change your mind!" Luffy cheerfully called to his retreating back.

The swordsman gave him only one reply over his shoulder as he departed from the marine base.

" Maybe in another lifetime."

~.~.~.~

**Author's Notes:**

I love the theme "(number) times that _ and one time _".

This alternate world idea came from what would have happened if Luffy became a marine and Zoro remained a pirate hunter.


	2. The Pirate Hunter and the Pirate

**Disclaimer: **I don't own One Piece or any of its characters.

II. The Pirate hunter and the Pirate

The Straw Hats minus their captain glanced at the ragged man who staggered into the tavern, his shirt torn and sandals dirtied.

Sanji made a noise of disapproval at the man's heavy scent of alcohol and steel. Usopp gulped at the sight of one white sword hanging from the man's waist, a hand casually resting on the hilt. Nami returned to her food, though her eyes flicked briefly towards the man as he sat down in front of the bar.

Luffy continued to eat, oblivious to everything else.

" Give me whatever's on the menu," the man said, his voice hoarse as if he hadn't drank anything in days.

The bartender dubiously looked at the shabby state of his clothes. " You got the money?"

" I will, once I get the bounty on that kid's head."

Sanji immediately stood up, meal forgotten, and Usopp and Nami tensed as the man casually jerked his thumb over his shoulder towards them. The rest of the tavern went quiet. Luffy was still happily eating.

" What makes you think you can take us on?" Sanji asked coolly.

The man swung his legs over to face him so his back now rested against the bar. " I doubt a prissy guy like you would even land a hit on me," he shrugged.

Sanji bristled and was about to snap a retort when Nami raised a hand to silence him. Over Sanji's coos of _"Yes, Nami-swan! I'll do whatever you want!"_, she scoffed at the man, who she decided was one of the craziest idiots she had ever seen. And her list of crazy idiots happened to include the three men that sat with her.

" Do you know who our captain is?" she pointed out, matching his flippant demeanour.

" Yeah! Haven't you heard of the great captain Usopp who is the leader of 800 men from all over the seas?"

" Oi!" – (_"ouch!"_) – " Nami-san is asking a question!"

The man raised an eyebrow at Sanji and Usopp's antics, the corners of his mouth curling in annoyance, before answering. " I know who he is. Monkey D. Luffy. Thirty million belli for the defeat of Arlong."

" So you know this guy is the most dangerous man in East Blue?"

Now, the man grinned. It made Nami recoil slightly. His smile reminded her of a shark waiting to strike at his unsuspecting prey.

" Most dangerous man or not, I'll fight him."

Sanji snorted contemptuously. The man turned to glare at the chef. " You got a problem with that, eyebrow freak?"

" Who are you calling a freak, marimo?"

Within seconds, Sanji swung a kick at the man's face. In retaliation, the man whipped out his sword to counter it. They remained in position for another few seconds, Sanji frozen in midair and the man half-raising from his chair. Then, they moved.

Sanji grabbed the counter, flinging his body over to gain enough momentum to send multiple kicks at the man's undefended side. With frightening speed, the man managed to dodge all the kicks, duck under and slash his sword at Sanji's open flank.

Grunting, the chef twisted his body, hands moving rapidly to accommodate, and his legs flew to parry the rapid jabs from the sword.

Falling back into the roll, the man bumped gracelessly into a table where he noticed two swords resting on the surface. " I'll be borrowing these," he casually said to its terrified owners.

" And how are you suppose to hold three swords?" Sanji sneered as he sent a flying kick towards the man, not waiting for a reply.

Too quickly for the normal eye to see, the man tossed his white sword up into the air, taking the other two and somehow, managed to fit them neatly in the palm of his hands.

While catching the white sword in his mouth.

Not missing a beat, he met Sanji's incoming kicks headfirst, swinging his three blades towards Sanji's chest, ready to rip into skin and bone.

" Whoa! That's cool!"

To the bar's surprise, the two men actually stopped and simultaneously turned to stare at the Straw Hats' captain who was now done eating and currently gazing at the swordsman in wide eyed idolism.

" How did you do that?" the boy exclaimed, staring rapturously at the three swords the man held. " And how do you hold a sword in your mouth?"

The man appeared to be struggling to find an answer to that. It appeared that he never encountered anyone who was more concerned with his method of wielding his swords than with his own life.

" If you're done eating, we can start our fight," he finally said, much to everyone's surprise. They didn't think he would be able to speak with a sword clenched between his teeth.

" I decided," Luffy continued, as if the swordsman had not spoken a word. " I want him to join my crew."

This time, the bar's occupants doubled over in shock. " Luffy, are you insane?" Usopp incredulously exclaimed. " This man wants your head!"

" But he's the coolest swordsman I've ever seen!"

" He is trying to kill us!"

" But he can talk with a sword in his mouth!"

" Are you out of your damn mind? There's no way I'm letting this marimo join us."

" Nobody asked you, stupid cook."

Sanji snarled out a barrage of curses and swears that Zoro violently matched point for point. Luffy was laughing hard like it was the most amusing thing in the world. Nami slapped a palm to her face while Usopp wished the arriving marines and the rest of the tavern would stop staring at them like they had all gone mad.

~.~.~.~

**Author's Notes:**

No matter what universe, Zoro and Sanji will end up fighting.


	3. The Pirate and Kuina

**Disclaimer:** I don't own One Piece or any of its characters.

III. The Pirate and Kuina

Roronoa Zoro died when he was a child.

He had been training extensively early in the morning by the waterfall, motivated by something that no other soul knew but him and Kuina, when he slipped and hit his head against the rocks. By the time they found him, it was already too late.

When Kuina saw his body, there was a hollow pit in her stomach threatening to consume her whole.

" You idiot!" she whispered fiercely, tears trickling down her cheeks.

A change took place in Kuina. Her father noted that she trained harder than before, long into the nights and rising early in the mornings. She took any and every challenger that came to the dojo and defeated them all. They could only watch in stunned astonishment and admiration as Kuina's name spread throughout the island.

Sometimes, they would ask why she carried three swords when at most she would only use two in each hand (her father teased her that she could try to put the third sword in her mouth). Her only reply was that she felt more comfortable with an extra sword at her side.

She told no one how the third sword was a memento for an old friend, how he tried to always hold more swords than his hands allowed him.

Soon, challenging petty thieves and rugged scoundrels on the island were not enough to satisfy Kuina's growing thirst to become the best. She said her farewells to her father and the others at the dojo (with a lingering look at a lonely gravestone with fresh flowers left everyday) and left to travel.

She went from island to island, hungering for a worthy competition. Men would mock her for daring to be a swordswoman and other women frowned at her for taking such a man-driven profession. Pirates outright laughed at her and some mocked the fact she was a woman and had less physical strength as them.

Without minding them too much, Kuina left them lying on the ground in defeat.

She soon decided who was the world's greatest swordsman and she knew in her current state, she was no match towards him. She needed to train and to find stronger swordsmen to fight against to test her limits.

And what better place to do it than joining the organization that housed Mihawk?

But her beliefs about the noble and chivalrous Marines were shattered when she had attacked a Marine's son's pet wolf form harming a child and said Marine's son tried to take advantage of her, slyly sliding next to her and pinching his lips into a flirtatious smile. She curtly punched him across the face and then defeated his men with scorn. Only when the son threatened to harm the child did she finally laid her swords down and allowed them to tie her in the courtyard to survive for a month without food or water.

Weeks crawled by and Kuina grew thinner, her skin searing under the hot sun and her parched lips choked on the dry dust.

Sometimes she saw Zoro, disappointed and spiteful. " You've gotten weak," he would tell her, sneering.

" Not weak," she would reply, shaking her head to the empty air. " Training only makes you stronger."

Then a boy with a straw hat appeared.

Kuina did not trust him. He was a pirate and pirates were a dangerous and cruel folk to be dealing with and she had more pride than to accept help from a lowly pirate, even if she was one step into her grave.

But this boy was more than untamed and true and _real_. He was a pirate through and through but his heart shone of daring adventures and whispered of things beyond her wildest dreams.

And his eyes were the same as Zoro's.

The same recklessness and wildness that had Kuina's heart ache again with life.

" Join my crew," he had said, grinning as wide as the oceans that beckoned her forth.

Beside him, Zoro was smiling.

~.~.~.~

**Author's Notes:**

It was hard to write Kuina, I personally found, because there isn't much we know about her. We know that she was a strong swordswoman and she had fears about herself and her ability as a swordswoman as she was growing. So I thought, if Zoro was the one who died, would she have more Zoro-like traits? How different would she have acted if she had lived and Zoro died? Still, my interpretation of Kuina here was entirely a speculation.


End file.
